THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
MEAT IS STRICTLY taboo at the Burkey household in Virginia Beach. So are cheese, fish, milk, eggs and shellfish. Even the family dog, Angel, is a serious vegetarian, eating nothing that is derived from another animal.
When ice cream is offered at the local elementary school, the two Burkey kids get frozen bean-curd treats. Instead of cow's milk, they pour a cocoa-colored product called ``Soy-Milk'' on their breakfast cereal.
Their mom, Anne Burkey, became a ``vegan'' four years ago, ceasing her consumption of any animal product. She founded the Hampton Roads Vegetarian Society last year and remains its president.
``It amazes me that people think of this as weird,'' Burkey said last week as she nibbled on a veggie muffin at her Sandbridge home. ``It's simpler, it's cheaper, it's healthier, it's better for the environment. To me, it's a lot stranger to eat a bloody piece of some dead animal.''
To the 150 members of the regional vegetarian society, and to thousands of other herbivores across the country, today is a special occasion. The Great American Meatout, now in its 12th year, is celebrated in all 50 states.
The little-known event invites Americans ``to kick the meat habit, at least for a day, and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet,'' according to a national bulletin from organizers with the group Farm Animal Reform Movement, based in suburban Washington, D.C.
Scheduled events include meatless meals at Donald Trump's casino in Atlantic City, a 72-hour vigil and fast in San Diego, and free veggie burgers handed out by a clown named Reggie McVeggie in San Francisco.
In Hampton Roads, Burkey and others will host a meatless cookout at Hooters restaurant on North Military Highway in Norfolk from 6 to 10 a.m. They have agreed to a grill-off with the morning disc jockeys at 96X (WROX-FM), who pledge to cook ``as much red meat as we possibly can,'' according to a promotional staffer at the progressive-rock station.
The debate over red meat and vegetarianism goes deeper than a parking lot cook-off, however. It involves doctors, dietitians, government experts, animal-rights activists, farmers, ranchers and, of course, anyone who watches what they eat.
Burkey quit eating meat because of her animal-rights beliefs. Formerly married to a health inspector of slaughterhouses - ``Believe me, I know what goes on in those places,'' she says - Burkey gave up red meat first, then chicken and turkey, then fish, and finally dairy products.
``If fish could scream, there'd be no more fishing,'' she says.
But most people become vegetarians not to protest cruelty but because of health and weight concerns, experts say.
``Everyone can benefit from a lesser-fat diet,'' says Linda Barnes, a Virginia Beach dietitian and president of the Tidewater Dietetic Association. She also is a vegetarian.
``But we're not telling people not to eat meat,'' Barnes stresses. ``We're saying they'd be smart to eat less fatty meat, and to try to replace one meal a week with more vegetables and fruit.''
People are listening. For the past two decades, the amount of beef eaten by an average American has steadily declined - from a peak of 89 pounds per person per year in 1976 to 63.9 pounds in 1995, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A flood of medical studies is the biggest reason for the decline, experts agree, as Americans have slowly come to accept that eating traditional cuts of bulky meat on a regular basis can clog their body with saturated fats and cholesterol.
The per-capita consumption of leaner meats, such as chicken and turkey, have nearly doubled in the same 20-year period, according to USDA statistics.
Leonard Brooke, part-owner of Southern Packing Corp., a family-owned slaughterhouse in Chesapeake, can testify to the health-conscious trend. Brooke, too, has reduced meat in his diet - although he still loves a big steak occasionally, especially when cooked on an open grill on a summer night.
``When I was a kid, you never heard about any of this health stuff. You just ate,'' says Brooke. ``But, really, our demand here is as great as ever. It's just that people want leaner beef, leaner cuts.''
Asked about animal-rights activists and die-hard vegetarians who try to vilify his trade, Brooke shrugs.
``Hey, my niece is a vegetarian; I've got no problem with that,'' he says. ``I do think some of these groups are a little out there in left field, though. Anything to the extreme is a little suspect with me.''
Vegetarian groups and some dieticians say that abstaining from meat can decrease the risk of contracting several forms of cancer, and that eating more garlic, onions and broccoli actually lowers the likelihood of cancers.
``The research is very, very plentiful,'' says Barnes. ``Some of this is absolutely provable.''
Vegetarianism was recognized for the first time last year by the federal government in its dietary guidelines. The USDA notes that a vegetarian diet ``can be helpful if carefully planned.''
The study also stressed, however, that certain nutrients, such as iron, zinc and vitamin B-12, are more accessible in animal products.
Mary Young, a registered dietician for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says vegetarians make ``logic leaps'' when trying to link disease with meat.
``High fat doesn't always mean meat; that's their mistake,'' she says. ``When eaten in moderate amounts and in lean amounts, it's absolutely true that meat helps provide a balanced, healthy diet.''
Burkey can barely contain herself when she hears such arguments. To her, the issue is not finding reasons to eat meat; it's that healthier alternatives already exist. So why keep killing animals? she asks.
She shows a portrait of her two children to a visitor. ``See,'' she says, ``healthy, normal kids. Never had an ear infection, either. They've hardly ever been sick.''
Burkey recalls a recent trip to the supermarket and to her children's reaction to the butcher shop. ``They just couldn't believe people could eat stuff like that.''
So, how long does she think it will take the rest of society to turn off on meat?
``I don't know,'' she says. ``I guess it's just change that people are afraid of. We're looked on as extremists, I know that. But there's no secret agenda here. We just want people to know there's an alternative.'' by CNB